TEHRAN – Major General Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), vehemently condemned Israel's recent seizure of Syrian territory, calling it "unbearable." 

Speaking at a Tehran cultural ceremony on Sunday, he asserted that courageous Syrian youth will ultimately liberate their homeland. He described foreign powers as "hungry wolves" preying on a vulnerable Syria, with Israel targeting the south while others exploit the north and east. 

The general highlighted the current intolerable situation where Israel can observe Damascus with ease, emphasizing the necessity of resisting the Israeli regime. Echoing Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Salami predicted the liberation of occupied Syrian territories by brave Syrian youth.

“They will be buried in this land, but this will require some time. This was a harsh lesson,” Salami said, comparing the current situation in Syria to the Sacred Defense era in the 1980s. 

The IRGC commander stated that Iranian military advisors' presence in Syria during the 2010s was solely to uphold Syrian dignity, not in pursuit of annexation or ambitious interests. Iran, he noted, was the first nation to assist Syria following the 2011 outbreak of foreign-backed terrorism. 

While Syrian forces, supported by Iran and Russia, achieved a significant victory against Daesh in 2017, northern regions remained under the control of militants and foreign occupiers based on an agreement with Turkey under the Astana peace process. Ankara pledged to rein in any new terror insurgency in the northern Syrian territories. 

Armed allied factions led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group, however, launched an offensive on Syria’s Aleppo province last month from those very regions. The militants quickly made advancements and managed to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s government on December 8. 

The fall of Assad was swiftly followed by an Israeli bombing campaign and expansion of its occupation of Syria. Several regional countries have accused Israel of exploiting the ensuing chaos to seize more territory.